1935 Pittsburgh Pirates (NFL) season

1935 Pittsburgh Pirates season
OwnerArt Rooney
Head coachJoe Bach
Home fieldForbes Field
Results
Record4–8
Division place3rd NFL Eastern
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1935 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the team's third season since its formation two years prior. The 1935 Pirates (would later be renamed in 1940) fired former coach Luby DiMeolo after completing the '34 season with a 2–10 record. They brought in Duquesne head coach, Joe Bach, who improved their record to 4–8, and stayed until the next season before returning to coach in college.

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record
1 September 13 at Philadelphia Eagles W 17–7 1–0
2 September 22 New York Giants L 7–42 1–1
3 September 29 Chicago Bears L 7–23 1–2
4 October 6 at Green Bay Packers L 0–27 1–3
5 October 9 Philadelphia Eagles L 6–17 1–4
6 October 20 Chicago Cardinals W 17–13 2–4
7 October 27 Boston Redskins W 6–0 3–4
8 November 3 Brooklyn Dodgers L 7–13 3–5
9 November 10 at Brooklyn Dodgers W 16–7 4–5
10 November 24 Green Bay Packers L 14–34 4–6
11 December 1 at Boston Redskins L 3–13 4–7
12 December 8 at New York Giants L 0–13 4–8

Standings

NFL Eastern Division
W L T PCT DIV PF PA STK
New York Giants 9 3 0 .750 8–0 180 96 W5
Brooklyn Dodgers 5 6 1 .455 3–4–1 90 141 T1
Pittsburgh Pirates 4 8 0 .333 3–5 100 209 L3
Boston Redskins 2 8 1 .200 2–4–1 65 123 T1
Philadelphia Eagles 2 9 0 .182 2–5 60 179 L5
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Game summaries

Week 1 (Friday September 13, 1935): Philadelphia Eagles

1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 14 0 0 3 17
Eagles 7 0 0 0 7

at Temple Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 20,000
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

Week 2 (Sunday September 22, 1935): New York Giants

1 2 3 4 Total
Giants 7 21 0 14 42
Pirates 0 0 0 7 7

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 23,298
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • New York – Richards 13 run (Strong kick)
  • New York – Burnett 45 pass from Danowski (Strong kick)
  • New York – Molenda 30 interception (Strong kick)
  • New York – Clancy 10 run (Sarausky kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Weisenbaugh 3 pass from Gildea (Niccolai kick)
  • New York – Burnett 25 pass from Danowski (Strong kick)
  • New York – Sarausky 10 run (Molenda kick)
  • Notes: New York head coach Steve Owen admits in 1935 that he "shaved" the game, ordering his Giants to fumble 3 times inside the 10 & didn't call a pass play in the 4th quarter, the world's first public admission of game fixing.[1]

Week 3 (Sunday September 29, 1935): Chicago Bears

1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 0 23 0 0 23
Pirates 0 0 7 0 7

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 11,858
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

Week 4 (Sunday October 6, 1935): Green Bay Packers

1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 0 0 0 0 0
Packers 0 20 0 7 27

at City Stadium, Green Bay, Wisconsin

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 5,000
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

Week 5 (Wednesday October 9, 1935): Philadelphia Eagles

1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 10 0 0 7 17
Pirates 0 0 0 6 6

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 6,271
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Philadelphia – Matesic 2 run (Reese kick)
  • Philadelphia – FG Reese 40
  • Philadelphia – Carter 58 pass from Storm (Reese kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Weisenbaugh 10 pass from Doehring (kick failed)

Week 6 (Sunday October 20, 1935): Chicago Cardinals

1 2 3 4 Total
Cardinals 0 7 0 0 7
Pirates 6 6 0 14 26

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 7,000
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Pittsburgh – Casper 14 pass from Doehring (Niccolai kick)
  • Chicago Cardinals – Sarboe 80 punt return (Smith kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 22
  • Chicago Cardinals – Nichelini 5 run (kick blocked)
  • Pittsburgh – Strutt 74 interception (Niccolai kick)

Week 7 (Sunday October 27, 1935): Boston Redskins

1 2 3 4 Total
Redskins 0 0 0 0 0
Pirates 0 3 3 0 6

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 12,000
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

Week 8 (Sunday November 3, 1935): Brooklyn Dodgers

1 2 3 4 Total
Dodgers 7 6 0 0 13
Pirates 0 0 7 0 7

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 13,390
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Brooklyn – Becker pass from Franklin (Kercheval kick)
  • Brooklyn – Hubbard 56 pass from Kercheval (kick blocked)
  • Pittsburgh – Wetzel 1 run (Niccolai kick)

Week 9 (Sunday November 10, 1935): Brooklyn Dodgers

1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 6 0 3 7 16
Dodgers 7 0 0 0 7

at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 18,000
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Brooklyn – Grossman 5 run (Kercheval kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Levey 34 pass from Gildea (kick blocked)
  • Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 25
  • Pittsburgh – Levey run (Niccolai kick)

Week 11 (Sunday November 24, 1935): Green Bay Packers

1 2 3 4 Total
Packers 6 14 0 14 34
Pirates 0 7 7 0 14

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 12,902
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

Week 12 (Sunday December 1, 1935): Boston Redskins

1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 0 3 0 0 3
Redskins 0 0 0 13 13

at Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 5,000
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

  • Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 27
  • Boston – Musick run (Musick kick)
  • Boston – Renter 19 run (kick failed)

Week 13 (Sunday December 8, 1935): New York Giants

1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 0 0 0 0 0
Giants 3 7 0 3 13

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 7,000
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

References